Why Some Projects Should Be “Led,” Not “Managed”

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Vaughan Merlyn

I’ve posted before (many times!) about Business-IT Maturity, and the common “sticking points” that most IT organizations run into around the mid-point between low and high maturity.  (See, for example, here, here, and here, or enter “Sticking Point” into the search box.) Walking Ever Faster Will Not Get You Running! If, arbitrarily, you pick 3 [...]

Filed under: Demand Maturity, IT Infrastructure, IT Management, Scuba Diving, social networking | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

COBIT – Good News… Bad News!

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Vaughan Merlyn

COBIT is described by its creators, ISACA, as a “Framework for IT Governance and Control.”  Celebrating it’s 15-year anniversary, COBIT provides an excellent framework for helping bring IT under control.  In ISACA’s own words: COBIT is an IT governance framework and supporting toolset that allows managers to bridge the gap between control requirements, technical issues [...]

Filed under: Business-IT Governance, Demand Maturity, IS Management, IT Management, IT Maturity, Key Frameworks, Supply Maturity | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Do You Have IT Organizational Clarity – Part 3

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Vaughan Merlyn

This picks up on Part 1 and Part 2 in this series on IT Organizational Clarity. In Part 1, I discussed the importance of IT Organizational Clarity, the symptoms when clarity is compromised, and the challenges of trying to address those symptoms rather than the root causes that lead to compromised clarity.  Part 1 closed [...]

Filed under: Business-IT Governance, IS Management, IT Infrastructure, IT Management, IT Maturity, Key Frameworks, Next Generation IT, Portfolio Management | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Do You Have IT Organizational Clarity – Part 2

Posted on October 7, 2010 by Vaughan Merlyn

My previous post introduced the topic of IT Organizational Clarity, discussed common symptoms arising from a lack of Organizational Clarity, and suggested two dimensions through which clarity can be assessed and improved: Bounding scope by defining “IT Capabilities” at an appropriate level of granularity. (Units of analysis). Defining meaningful and assessable characteristics for IT Capabilities. [...]

Filed under: IS Management, IT Infrastructure, IT Management, IT Maturity, Key Frameworks, Next Generation IT, Supply Maturity | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Account Teams and Business-IT Relationship Management

Posted on September 14, 2010 by Vaughan Merlyn

I’ve posted quite frequently on this blog about the role of the Business-IT Relationship Manager. It’s a key role – crucial, in fact, at mid-levels of Business-IT maturity.  It’s a role that typically does not work well at lower maturity, yet is essential to reaching higher maturity. It’s also a role that is hard to [...]

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Matrix Management and the IT Organization

Posted on August 3, 2010 by Vaughan Merlyn

Many years ago, when I was a partner with Ernst & Young, John Cross, the CIO of BP (a very highly regarded company at that time) approached me wanting to benchmark the way E&Y managed its engagements.  My first reaction was incredulity.  I knew we were good at engagement management – after all, it was [...]

Filed under: IT Management, IT Maturity, Next Generation Enterprise, Next Generation IT | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Portfolio Management: So Much More Than a Collection of Projects!

Posted on March 11, 2009 by Vaughan Merlyn

I’ve posted recently about Program Management – mainly in response to a reader’s question about how to group projects into programs.  Her question, in turn, was in response to one of my most popular posts on the distinctions between Project, Program and Portfolio Management. IT Portfolio Management Matters! I’m delighted that my old post on [...]

Filed under: Business-IT Governance, IT Infrastructure, IT Management, IT Maturity, Portfolio Management | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Shadow IT: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Posted on July 22, 2008 by Vaughan Merlyn

I’ve posted before about Shadow IT, but I want to revisit the subject – I think it’s a big issue that needs some more air.  I’ve been reminded of this lately as I work with a client with a neglected IT capability.  A new CIO has been brought in (the first sign that a hitherto [...]

Filed under: IT Maturity | Tagged: , , | 9 Comments »

The Widening Gap In Business-IT Maturity Levels

Posted on July 19, 2008 by Vaughan Merlyn

We have been compiling the results of one facet of our multi-company research into business-IT maturity – the maturity assessment that companies took as part of participation in the research project. The purpose of the survey was to provide an assessment of business-IT capability in a corporation or business unit. We asked that the survey be [...]

Filed under: Change Management, Demand Maturity, IT Management, IT Maturity, Next Generation Enterprise, Supply Maturity | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

“Edginess” and IT Innovation

Posted on July 10, 2008 by Vaughan Merlyn

In preparing for our upcoming Executive Perspective in Chicago on September 18/19, my team has been exploring what is meant by “edginess?”  What does edginess look like in its various forms?  When and how is edginess good, productive, appropriate?  When is it bad, counterproductive, inappropriate? John Hagel and John Seely Brown in their landmark paper, “From [...]

Filed under: IT Management, IT Maturity | Tagged: , | 5 Comments »

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